13 points.
That was the cushion IU men’s basketball gave Wisconsin Tuesday night before finally picking up its first basket of the game against the Badgers.
After turning the ball over four times in the first three minutes and being down 12 points at the first media timeout, the Hoosiers only coughed the ball up twice for the remainder of the half.
IU was able to brush off a shaky start to be down just one at halftime, but hot shooting from beyond the arc and 23 points scored off 13 turnovers allowed the Badgers to outlast the Hoosiers 75-68 for IU’s third straight loss.
“Our turnovers is the problem with tonight, we had six in the first half and they scored two points on every one of them,” IU Coach Tom Crean said. “I don’t even know what to tell you about the start of the game, it made absolutely no sense to me.”
The game could not have started any worse for IU as Wisconsin guard Bronson Koenig nailed three triples in the first three minutes. Koenig however, picked up his second foul of the game with nine minutes remaining in the first half and sat for the remainder of the period.
Without the sharp shooting from Koenig, IU was able to take the lead for the first time against Wisconsin with under two minutes to play before halftime. As Koenig sat, the Badgers had to figure out a new route to put up points against the Hoosiers and that’s when sophomore forward Ethan Happ took over.
The Badgers started to feed the 6-foot-9 Happ in the late stages of the first quarter and he had no problem handling IU sophomore forward Thomas Bryant in the paint. He was four-for-five in the first half and his strong play only continued in the second half.
“We just weren’t taking away what we had to take away from him,” sophomore forward Juwan Morgan said. “We knew what he wanted to do, and he did it.”
There was hope for IU in the second half however, with the emergence of freshman forward De’Ron Davis. He made his first career start last game against Louisville and had four points in the first half before bursting out for seven points in a three-minute stretch keeping the Hoosiers in the game with 10 minutes left.
The Aurora, Colorado native also caused problems on the defensive end as Davis was able to slow down Happ on offense and IU had a one point lead with seven minutes to play. Davis finished tied with the team lead for points scored with 12 as Morgan and junior guard Robert Johnson were the other two players with 12 points.
Wisconsin played far better compared to IU when going down one, as once forward Nigel Hayes reclaimed the lead for the Badgers with under seven-minutes to play in the game, they never gave it up.
The Hoosiers made just three field goals in that stretch and Wisconsin was able to execute in the final moments of the game to win. Happ was slowed down at times in the second half but still ended with 19 points on eight-of-11 shooting and Koenig hit all five of his 3-pointers in the Badger victory.
“In a game like this, it’s small segments and there was a segment where it was a one point game and we knew it was still a stretch, you just have to go in there and guard your man,” Crean said. “It’s not that complicated, early help, get your hands right, get your feet right, head on a swivel, things we do constantly and we also missed some open shots.”
IU is now 0-2 in the Big Ten after the loss to Wisconsin after claiming the conference title last season with three losses. Crean reminded his team that the season is long and it’s only the first week of January and Morgan said he’s not frustrated as IU’s next matchup comes against Illinois at home Saturday.
“I’m not frustrated at all,” Morgan said. “I’m confident in the team, the staff, everyone around the program. I’m confident in all of us. Not frustrated at all.”
